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Damaeus[_2_]

Reading from news:rec.food.cooking,
posted:

> I bought a deep fryer a few yers ago, used it once, and never again,
> as it took so much oil and I didn't know if you could reuse it or how
> to store it. So, can you reuse th eoil, and how should it be stored?
> Thanks.

One friend of mine, who's Italian, a professional musician, and comes from
a family of chefs, from whom he picked up much of his cooking knowledge,
told me that once oil has been used to fry once, it becomes carcinogenic
and should be discarded. That gets expensive if you fry very much at all.
I just tend to use canola oil until it starts turning dark, then I pour it
over into an empty cat litter jug to be saved for discarding later.

One thing I do want to do is get something that I can use to strain the
crumbs out of the oil so I can fry things without the little black crumb
speckles getting on things like french fries. Oil won't flow through a
paper towel, and I think I remember trying a dishcloth once, but that just
let oil drip through slowly. I have a strainer I use for draining pasta
and potatoes, but I think the screen mesh on it has holes that are too big
to keep the crumbs and allow the oil to flow through.

As for buying a deep fryer, we have two of them: a Fry Daddy and some
other kind of fryer with a basket lever on it for lifting and draining.
Only problem with both of those is that they're not submersible in water,
which makes cleaning them sort of a hassle. So I just use a big pot with
a thick bottom on the stovetop and stick a thermometer on the side. I
just make sure I scour the insides really good to avoid the caked-up
grease buildup that affected a pot we used to fry in. Keeps it useful for
other things besides just frying.

As for storing it, I just keep it in the pot it was last used it, and
stick a lid on top of it.

Damaeus